Senate committee sends constable-training requirement to summer study after concerns about cost and access

Senate Bill 2645, sponsored in the Senate by Senator Roberts, would require candidates for constable to have graduated from a POST‑approved law enforcement training academy; current constables would be grandfathered. Roberts opened by acknowledging earlier confusion about the bill and saying, “I did a poor job in explaining this bill.”

Representative Lowell Russell, the House sponsor, told the committee that the academy program runs about 12 weeks (488 hours) and that the change is intended to professionalize the office. “Anybody that makes the back background checks can go into the academy and get their certificate of completion,” Russell said, adding that current constables who choose to attend could qualify for grants and that Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect could help pay tuition.

Committee members pressed the sponsor on access and cost. Several senators warned that a roughly $3,900 fiscal note could deter candidates in rural counties and shrink an already small constable corps; one member noted constable duties and local variation in the scope of authority and asked legal whether law‑enforcement powers are conferred locally. Megan Moore of Legal Services said not all constables receive full law‑enforcement authority automatically and that statutes confer such powers in particular circumstances.

After discussion about the bill’s financial and operational impacts — including how retired law‑enforcement officers might be attracted to the role — Senator Yeager moved, and the committee seconded, to refer SB 2645 to summer study and requested recommendations back to Finance next year. The voice vote carried.